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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wake · chair · foot · mouse · shower · straw · kid · scale

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. scale — size or range
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. kid — child
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. shower — rain
  17. foot — a measure
  18. scale — in music
  19. wake — a trail
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. chair — a leader
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. scale — for weighing

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com